My daughter loves cooking with me and watching cooking shows. She is 3, but knows the steps to make things in the kitchen better than most New Yorkers (remind me to tell you the story sometime of the apartment in Chelsea with literally 1 foot of counter space and the realtor who didn’t understand why anyone would need more…also how much I miss NYC delivery food). One of the 3 cooking shows she asks for is “Cooking Chef Mama.” No, it’s not me, it’s Joanna Gaines on her Discovery+ show. I have to admit, other than her putting eggs in her biscuit recipe, her food looks pretty good on the show. I got both of her cookbooks for Christmas so what better time to test Cooking Chef Mama’s food prowess?
It’s been a while since I made Mexican food (or Tex-Mex as the case may be), and I’d just watched (for the 800th time) the taco episode, so steak tacos sounded perfect. She made a bunch of fixings for chicken and steak on the show, so I stole the corn/cotija situation from the chicken taco recipe in the book and added guac and grilled red peppers to the party. I also made a batch of my favorite salsa from "Season 1" of Jules Cooks the Books.
Ingredients:
Fajita Seasoning: [Mix together]
1 TB chili powder
2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 ½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Pickled Red Onion:
2 ½ c. thinly sliced red onion
¾ c. red wine vinegar
1 ½ TB sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
Corn/Cotija Situation: [Mix together]
15 oz can corn, drained
½ c. crumbled Cotija cheese
½ c. Pickled Red Onion
¼ c. chopped cilantro
Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
Mexican Crema: [Mix together]
½ c. sour cream
¼ c. heavy cream
1 ½ TB adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers)
2 tsp fresh lime juice
⅛ tsp kosher salt
2 lbs skirt steak
½ TB canola oil [I needed more]
Corn tortillas
Guacamole [avocado, a touch of cumin, a clove of chopped garlic, then salt/pepper/lime juice to taste]
Pickle the red onion first so it has time to sit. Put the non-onion ingredients in a pot, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil, then turn down to simmer for 5 minutes. Pour over the thinly-sliced onions in a heatproof bowl. Let sit out an hour, then refrigerate. Keeps 2 days in the fridge.
Bring the steak to room temperature and rub with the fajita seasoning mixed with canola oil. The recipe says 1 TB seasoning, but my steaks wanted the whole recipe. [I’d cut the salt back next time]. Allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Grill the steak for 4-5 minutes per side. Allow to rest 10 minutes, then slice into thin strips. [We also threw bell pepper halves onto the grill with some olive oil, salt, and pepper then sliced]
Assemble the tacos by griddling the tortillas for 30-60 seconds per side, just until there’s a hint of browning, but the tortillas are still malleable. Top as desired. Topping montage for fun:
Who doesn't like a taco bar? This raises the bar a bit with a lot of separately prepped toppings. Really great fresh flavors that all meld well together. My only complaint is that things were a bit salty - the salt in the fajita seasoning and the cotija were a touch much. Next time I'd reduce that a bit. I'm excited for taking all of these leftovers and making a burrito tomorrow (if I had chips, nachos would be an option as well) - makes me excited for a Monday, and that's saying something given the week I had last week!
Rating: Excellent
Comments